I’ve lived in the DC/Baltimore area for over a dozen years now and
Spring gets to me every year. Florida had two seasons, Drought and Lawnmowing. Maryland gets the full four and nothing signals rebirth like the cherry blossoms.
Anytime there is a clear day during peak blooming I load up the car, fight the tourists, and head down to the Tidal Basin. Two weeks ago was such a day. I bribed my wife with the promise of a dinner out and we headed down to the District. Our favorite monument in Washington is the relatively new FDR Memorial along the east side of the basin where the cherry trees are the thickest.
The Park Police have been playing with the traffic patterns to try to avoid gridlock, but I found a space right near the water. I got my pictures, but before heading out I decided to take one lap of Hains Point which has as many cherry trees as the Tidal Basin if not more so. By now it was late in the afternoon and things were starting to wind down. There was a little bit of traffic but parking was plentiful.
As I drove around, there was one tree in particular stood out. By the time I pulled over and got out my camera I was in line behind two other groups posing in front of the low hanging trees. There was something about this tree in particular that entranced people. Everyone that passed by it stopped to pose. I decided that it must be The Prettiest Cherry Tree On Hains Point.
The cherry blossoms have to be one of the most photographed annual events in DC and I have done my part. On my Flickr account, I have whittled the over 200 hundred pictures I took down to the very best 64. It’s no coincidence that several feature my wife but only one features my goofy mug. The most meta-picture is this one of a guy taking a picture of a girl taking a picture of her friend. I bet someone was taking a picture of me.
This annual Rite of Spring never gets old and beauty never gets tiresome to look at.
BlatantCommentWhoring™: What do you like about Spring?
2 comments:
I've really only known and appreciated spring since moving to Germany. The seasons in SoCal are dry, fire, and rain, and Oregon was pretty mild year-round. But for me, the best thing is all the yellow flowers: Forsythia, daffodils, the yellow crocuses, and a little later the Mahonia. Cherry blossoms are a little too pink for my tastes, unless they're for real cherries. And those haven't opened yet, unlike the ornamental trees.
Spring is my favorite season! New growth, seeds to plant, so many possibilities and surprises. DC is probably the most beautiful place in the spring (where I have lived, at least). The cherry blossoms, azaleas, dogwoods, magnolias. I loved going to Dumbarton Oaks - an amazing garden. Last year I missed the cherry blossoms in DC by about a week - very disappointing. I'll have to console myself with your pictures.
mostlylurking
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